In the garden are many beautiful flowers,
each awaiting its right and perfect bloom-time.
I, the gardener, tend each and every one.
In this garden,
I walk among the flowering plants,
each with its own cycle of maturation and death.
As gardener, I seek to nourish each
with individual attention suited to the need:
just the right amount of sunlight, water, shade, and darkness.
I prune and transplant when needed.
I arrange so that the blooms, in their glory,
will enhance the beauty of their neighbor.
Ah, the Master Gardener in Her infinite wisdom
has led Her flowers to this place and this time
knowing that this collection of blooms
will celebrate each other
and create beautiful music at each other’s side.
Bloom, child of heaven’s garden.
Shine in all your glory.
Walk beside your neighbor.
Lift her spirits with your smile.
Give her the strength of your stem to lean on.
Bloom, child of the Master Gardener.
Bloom in the soil which gives you life.
Let the winds of time scatter your seeds
that the touch of your spirit
will reach to the ends of the world.
Bloom child of Divinity.
In you is Spirit’s Truth and Love.
In you is Spirit’s Life and Wisdom.
Bloom in your sweet time.
Rest when the need arises.
Bloom, rest, receive of life’s abundance
from these who grow beside you.
One with the life of all, merge at depth.
One with the shared glory,
blossom in all your uniqueness at peak.
Hide not from the sun.
Shrink not among your neighbors.
Glorify the Gardener by shining in the soil of your life.
by Jeanne Loehnis, June 2004